đ Just Launched â Our New Undergraduate Program in Digital Business & Entrepreneurship is Here:Â Explore Now!
Resources
Career & Placements
Digital Business Program
- Bachelors/UG in Digital Business & Entrepreneurship
Newly Launched
Digital Marketing Courses
Free Masterclass
McDowellâs No.1 is one of the largest selling whiskey brands in the world today, thanks to its marketing strategies. Itâs a brand that has become extremely popular among liquor enthusiasts or what we usually refer to as âYaarsâ.
In this case study, we take a deep dive into the Marketing Strategy of McDowells No 1 that made them successful, along with their marketing campaigns, marketing mix, SWOT analysis and competitor analysis.
So letâs start this case study by learning more about McDowellâs No 1.

Aditya Shastri
Lead Trainer & Head of Learning & Development at IIDE
Updated on: Oct 21, 2022
Listen to this blog
<\/p>\n
McDowellâs No. 1 is the largest selling umbrella brand of spirits in the world. It is the flagship brand of United Spirits Limited, a subsidiary of Diageo. The name \u2018McDowell\u2019 originated after the Scottish distiller Angus McDowell.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This liquor brand began with the launch of their Brandy in 1963-64, Whisky in 1968 & Rum with Celebration(dark), and Caribbean(white) variants in 1990-91. <\/span>The brand also offers complimentary products such as soda and bottled water.<\/span><\/p>\n It also focuses more on the merger of top brands that are already existing like Shaw Wallace, Baramati Grape Industries, Triumph Distillers, and Vintners Ltd, and many more to expand its brand offerings.<\/span><\/p>\n Let us now <\/span>look into the marketing mix of McDowell\u2019s No 1 which will give us an understanding of their basic information and strategies that define the brand.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The marketing mix is the area that influences people to focus on buying the product in a company. McDowellâs No 1 deals with the 4Ps (Product, Price, Promotion & Place) of the marketing mix. Letâs have a look at McDowell\u2019s No 1 marketing mix.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The major products of McDowell\u2019s No 1 are related to alcoholic drinks. They sell whisky, rum, and brandy. Its alcoholic beverages are one of the successful products in the market.\u00a0 The main focus of the brand is to build trust with the customers.<\/span><\/p>\n It has a variety of drinks to offer based on providing different taste experiences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For example, the new McDowell\u2019s No 1 â Original promises that it will give a more balanced whiskey experience without leaving the original taste.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On the other hand, McDowell\u2019s No 1 â Luxury will offer customers a superior experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The brand understands that a high percentage of alcohol drinkers usually prefer alcohol at an affordable price range. That\u2019s why the products released by McDowell\u2019s No 1 are lowly priced as compared to other brands.<\/span><\/p>\n The pricing strategy is based on the distribution costs and also on the value of production. Also, their prices have to be comparative with other alcoholic products in the market.<\/span><\/p>\n Currently, McDowell\u2019s No 1 has conquered almost every area of India by opening its distilleries. Also, they are serving in around 20 countries across the world.<\/span><\/p>\n Apart from India, this brand has subsidiaries in Africa, Japan, the Middle East, and the United Arab Emirates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n McDowell\u2019s No 1 uses eye-catching taglines and focuses on product packaging and bottle designs to stand out from the crowd. They ensure that the quality of their products is maintained at the highest order.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It has sponsored various music events and is also associated with many Bollywood films in India.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now we have seen the 4P\u2019s of the marketing mix of the company, <\/span>\u00a0let\u2019s go through its SWOT Analysis in the coming section.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n SWOT analysis means analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats faced by a company. <\/span>Here, let\u2019s have a deep SWOT analysis of McDowell\u2019s No 1.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now that we understand the company\u2019s core business, let\u2019s take a look at the marketing strategy of McDowell No 1<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Marketing Strategy of McDowellâs No 1 revolves around maintaining a premium brand image in the mind of the audience. <\/span>Content and influencer marketing have always been an important part of its promotion mix.<\/span><\/p>\n It makes relevant content and value-adding which appeals to its consumers. It always comes up with topics in trends and related conversations to attract the young generation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The company exhibits its marketing strategy through advertisements, sponsorships, campaigns, billboards, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The brand has sponsored several music concerts in India featuring artists such as Mark Knopfler, Enrique Iglesias, Elton John, Shankar\u2013Ehsaan\u2013Loy, Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Rajviani, Mika Singh, and many more.\u00a0<\/span>The brand has always banked on associating itself with Music which also led to McDowell\u2019s No 1 releasing theme songs of its own in collaboration with various artists.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n McDowell\u2019s No 1 is also an associate sponsor of IPL. It has also associated itself with Bollywood films like Devdas, Road and Kaante through its \u201cMera No 1 Entertainment banner\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now that we understood the marketing strategy of the company, let us see the successful marketing campaigns led by McDowell<\/span>\u2019s No 1\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Marketing campaigns run by the brand are always according to its sales target, demographics, and product launches.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n McDowell\u2019s No 1 is one such brand that is known for its marketing campaigns.<\/span> We will take a deep dive into some of its most iconic campaigns and why they touched the hearts of its customers.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0â \u201cDhoni Ki No.1 Yaari\u201d â Marketing Campaign of McDowell\u2019s No 1<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The advertising film attempts to show the genuine friendship between the Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his childhood friends. Dhoni revisited his hometown Ranchi and met his \u2018Bachpan Ke Yaar\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The film tried to bring out the real friendly chemistry between Dhoni and his friends. It shows how these three people have nostalgia for the years they have spent together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n â \u201cNo.1 Yaari Jam\u201d â Marketing Campaign of McDowell\u2019s No 1<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n No.1 Yaari Jam<\/span> is a music platform that was launched in 2017. It is a partnership between McDowell\u2019s No.1 Soda and Hungama.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It released 5 engaging soundtracks by famous music artists across India. The popular duo, Salim & Sulaiman Merchant, were the directors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The No.1 Yaari Jam is a platform where music enthusiasts can collaborate with artists to create new music and showcase their stories to the world. It has inspired a lot of people across India. It was clear that McDowellâs No 1 wants culture and music to be the main elements of its core philosophy.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n â \u201cJashn Yaari Ka\u201d â Marketing Campaign of McDowell\u2019s<\/span><\/b> No 1<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n McDowell\u2019s No.1 Platinum Gourmet Snacks established the \u201cJashn Yaari Kaâ Campaign. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The campaign is a tribute to <\/span>Yaars<\/span><\/i> (a friend) who celebrate another <\/span>Yaars <\/span><\/i>successes and moments of joy. This campaign, just like its campaigns, revolved around showcasing friendship and brotherhood.<\/span><\/p>\n The face of the campaign was none other than Vicky Kaushal and the advertisement highlighted moments of his life before he became an actor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Portraying his journey from doing an engineering job to pursuing acting and now signing autographs at Cannes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The campaign <\/span>beautifully depicts how his <\/span>Yaars <\/span><\/i>always stood by him and surprised him at moments he did not expect them to.<\/span><\/p>\n With this, we have come to an end of the marketing campaigns of McDowell\u2019s No 1, so now let\u2019s see who is the brand ambassador of McDowell\u2019s No 1.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Using popular celebrities as a brand ambassadors is common and can also turn out to be a successful marketing strategy. Mcdowell\u2019s, being a liquor brand that uses surrogate advertising, banks heavily on celebrities. As of now, Farhan Akthar and MS Dhoni are its Brand Ambassadors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n McDowell\u2019s No 1 signed Farhan Akhtar as a brand ambassador for the Soda extension and roped MS Dhoni as a brand ambassador for Platinum Whiskey of its brand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A target audience is a specific group of customers to whom the business targets specifically and directs their marketing of products and services. Let us see who are McDowell\u2019s target audience:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Social media is an amazing platform to express one\u2019s views or feelings. It is the basic way to popularize a brand in all parts of the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Let\u2019s examine how McDowell\u2019s No 1\u00a0 uses social media.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n McDowell\u2019s No 1 keeps posting about the importance of friendship on its Twitter account by promoting its products with the tagline of # No1 Yaari\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n McDowell\u2019s No 1 promotes its new products through social media. The below post shows how McDowell\u2019s No 1 launches its new products.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n These are some of the posts of\u00a0 McDowell\u2019s No 1 on its social media accounts. Now let\u2019s see how McDowell\u2019s No 1 stands in its position with its competitors.\u00a0So let us conclude this case study in the coming section.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Despite its strengths and opportunities, McDowell\u2019s No 1 uses its unique tactics to compete by getting rid of its weaknesses and threats.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s see how McDowell\u2019s No 1 strategies differ from that of their competitors:<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Old Monk was launched in 1954 and it was the largest selling dark rum in the world for decades. Celebration Rum by McDowell\u2019s No 1 has been a long-term rival of Old Monk. Old Monk has lost so much ground that it now only sells about a quarter of the volume of McDowellâs No. 1 rum.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Imperial Blue is the third highest-selling whiskey brand which was launched in 1997. Itâs one of the countryâs most popular budget whiskies. McDowell\u2019s sold 25.6 million cases and Imperial Blue sold 18 million cases.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bacardi is a family-owned spirits company in the world founded in 1862. Bacardi and McDowell\u2019s have been in close competition since 2012. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>In 2014 Celebration Rum overtook Bacardi by selling 18.3 million cases over 18.2 million cases of Bacardi.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Today McDowell\u2019s No 1 whiskey brand sells more than 29 million cases per year, which is why it is the second-largest selling whiskey brand in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n It became one of India\u2019s biggest alcohol brands by introducing some of the best marketing campaigns which helped the company gain a healthy market share from its competing rivals. They always focus more on innovation which gives them the edge over their competitors.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n With this, we come to an end of McDowellâs Marketing Strategy.\u00a0 Leâs conclude this case study in the coming section.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>","tablet":""}},"slug":"et_pb_text"}" data-et-multi-view-load-tablet-hidden="true"> McDowellâs No. 1 is the largest selling umbrella brand of spirits in the world. It is the flagship brand of United Spirits Limited, a subsidiary of Diageo. The name âMcDowellâ originated after the Scottish distiller Angus McDowell. This liquor brand began with the launch of their Brandy in 1963-64, Whisky in 1968 & Rum with Celebration(dark), and Caribbean(white) variants in 1990-91. The brand also offers complimentary products such as soda and bottled water. It also focuses more on the merger of top brands that are already existing like Shaw Wallace, Baramati Grape Industries, Triumph Distillers, and Vintners Ltd, and many more to expand its brand offerings. Let us now look into the marketing mix of McDowellâs No 1 which will give us an understanding of their basic information and strategies that define the brand. The marketing mix is the area that influences people to focus on buying the product in a company. McDowellâs No 1 deals with the 4Ps (Product, Price, Promotion & Place) of the marketing mix. Letâs have a look at McDowellâs No 1 marketing mix. The major products of McDowellâs No 1 are related to alcoholic drinks. They sell whisky, rum, and brandy. Its alcoholic beverages are one of the successful products in the market. The main focus of the brand is to build trust with the customers. It has a variety of drinks to offer based on providing different taste experiences. For example, the new McDowellâs No 1 â Original promises that it will give a more balanced whiskey experience without leaving the original taste. On the other hand, McDowellâs No 1 â Luxury will offer customers a superior experience. The brand understands that a high percentage of alcohol drinkers usually prefer alcohol at an affordable price range. Thatâs why the products released by McDowellâs No 1 are lowly priced as compared to other brands. The pricing strategy is based on the distribution costs and also on the value of production. Also, their prices have to be comparative with other alcoholic products in the market. Currently, McDowellâs No 1 has conquered almost every area of India by opening its distilleries. Also, they are serving in around 20 countries across the world. Apart from India, this brand has subsidiaries in Africa, Japan, the Middle East, and the United Arab Emirates. McDowellâs No 1 uses eye-catching taglines and focuses on product packaging and bottle designs to stand out from the crowd. They ensure that the quality of their products is maintained at the highest order. It has sponsored various music events and is also associated with many Bollywood films in India. Now we have seen the 4Pâs of the marketing mix of the company, letâs go through its SWOT Analysis in the coming section. SWOT analysis means analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats faced by a company. Here, letâs have a deep SWOT analysis of McDowellâs No 1. Now that we understand the companyâs core business, letâs take a look at the marketing strategy of McDowell No 1 The Marketing Strategy of McDowellâs No 1 revolves around maintaining a premium brand image in the mind of the audience. Content and influencer marketing have always been an important part of its promotion mix. It makes relevant content and value-adding which appeals to its consumers. It always comes up with topics in trends and related conversations to attract the young generation. The company exhibits its marketing strategy through advertisements, sponsorships, campaigns, billboards, etc. The brand has sponsored several music concerts in India featuring artists such as Mark Knopfler, Enrique Iglesias, Elton John, ShankarâEhsaanâLoy, Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Rajviani, Mika Singh, and many more. The brand has always banked on associating itself with Music which also led to McDowellâs No 1 releasing theme songs of its own in collaboration with various artists. McDowellâs No 1 is also an associate sponsor of IPL. It has also associated itself with Bollywood films like Devdas, Road and Kaante through its âMera No 1 Entertainment bannerâ. Now that we understood the marketing strategy of the company, let us see the successful marketing campaigns led by McDowellâs No 1 Marketing campaigns run by the brand are always according to its sales target, demographics, and product launches. McDowellâs No 1 is one such brand that is known for its marketing campaigns. We will take a deep dive into some of its most iconic campaigns and why they touched the hearts of its customers. â âDhoni Ki No.1 Yaariâ â Marketing Campaign of McDowellâs No 1 The advertising film attempts to show the genuine friendship between the Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his childhood friends. Dhoni revisited his hometown Ranchi and met his âBachpan Ke Yaarâ. The film tried to bring out the real friendly chemistry between Dhoni and his friends. It shows how these three people have nostalgia for the years they have spent together. â âNo.1 Yaari Jamâ â Marketing Campaign of McDowellâs No 1 No.1 Yaari Jam is a music platform that was launched in 2017. It is a partnership between McDowellâs No.1 Soda and Hungama. It released 5 engaging soundtracks by famous music artists across India. The popular duo, Salim & Sulaiman Merchant, were the directors. The No.1 Yaari Jam is a platform where music enthusiasts can collaborate with artists to create new music and showcase their stories to the world. It has inspired a lot of people across India. It was clear that McDowellâs No 1 wants culture and music to be the main elements of its core philosophy. â âJashn Yaari Kaâ â Marketing Campaign of McDowellâs No 1 McDowellâs No.1 Platinum Gourmet Snacks established the âJashn Yaari Kaâ Campaign. The campaign is a tribute to Yaars (a friend) who celebrate another Yaars successes and moments of joy. This campaign, just like its campaigns, revolved around showcasing friendship and brotherhood. The face of the campaign was none other than Vicky Kaushal and the advertisement highlighted moments of his life before he became an actor. Portraying his journey from doing an engineering job to pursuing acting and now signing autographs at Cannes. The campaign beautifully depicts how his Yaars always stood by him and surprised him at moments he did not expect them to. With this, we have come to an end of the marketing campaigns of McDowellâs No 1, so now letâs see who is the brand ambassador of McDowellâs No 1. Using popular celebrities as a brand ambassadors is common and can also turn out to be a successful marketing strategy. Mcdowellâs, being a liquor brand that uses surrogate advertising, banks heavily on celebrities. As of now, Farhan Akthar and MS Dhoni are its Brand Ambassadors. McDowellâs No 1 signed Farhan Akhtar as a brand ambassador for the Soda extension and roped MS Dhoni as a brand ambassador for Platinum Whiskey of its brand. A target audience is a specific group of customers to whom the business targets specifically and directs their marketing of products and services. Let us see who are McDowellâs target audience: Social media is an amazing platform to express oneâs views or feelings. It is the basic way to popularize a brand in all parts of the world. Letâs examine how McDowellâs No 1 uses social media. McDowellâs No 1 keeps posting about the importance of friendship on its Twitter account by promoting its products with the tagline of # No1 Yaari McDowellâs No 1 promotes its new products through social media. The below post shows how McDowellâs No 1 launches its new products. These are some of the posts of McDowellâs No 1 on its social media accounts. Now letâs see how McDowellâs No 1 stands in its position with its competitors. So let us conclude this case study in the coming section. Despite its strengths and opportunities, McDowellâs No 1 uses its unique tactics to compete by getting rid of its weaknesses and threats. Letâs see how McDowellâs No 1 strategies differ from that of their competitors: Old Monk was launched in 1954 and it was the largest selling dark rum in the world for decades. Celebration Rum by McDowellâs No 1 has been a long-term rival of Old Monk. Old Monk has lost so much ground that it now only sells about a quarter of the volume of McDowellâs No. 1 rum. Imperial Blue is the third highest-selling whiskey brand which was launched in 1997. Itâs one of the countryâs most popular budget whiskies. McDowellâs sold 25.6 million cases and Imperial Blue sold 18 million cases. Bacardi is a family-owned spirits company in the world founded in 1862. Bacardi and McDowellâs have been in close competition since 2012. In 2014 Celebration Rum overtook Bacardi by selling 18.3 million cases over 18.2 million cases of Bacardi. Today McDowellâs No 1 whiskey brand sells more than 29 million cases per year, which is why it is the second-largest selling whiskey brand in the world. It became one of Indiaâs biggest alcohol brands by introducing some of the best marketing campaigns which helped the company gain a healthy market share from its competing rivals. They always focus more on innovation which gives them the edge over their competitors. With this, we come to an end of McDowellâs Marketing Strategy. Leâs conclude this case study in the coming section.McDowells No 1 Marketing Mix<\/b><\/h2>\n
1. McDowells No 1 Product Strategy<\/span><\/b><\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n
2. McDowells No 1 Price Strategy<\/span><\/b><\/h4>\n
\u00a0<\/h3>\n
3. McDowells No 1 Place Strategy<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n
4. McDowells No 1 Promotion Strategy<\/span><\/b><\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n
SWOT Analysis of McDowells No 1<\/b><\/h2>\n
1. Strengths of McDowell\u2019s No 1<\/b><\/h4>\n
\n
2. Weaknesses of McDowell\u2019s No 1<\/b><\/h4>\n
\n
3. Opportunities of McDowell\u2019s No 1<\/b><\/h4>\n
\n
4. Threats of McDowell\u2019s No 1<\/b><\/h4>\n
\n
Marketing Strategy of McDowells No 1<\/b><\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
McDowells No 1 <\/b><\/span>Marketing Campaigns<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
\u00a0<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Brand Ambassadors of McDowells No 1<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0
<\/p>\n
McDowells No 1 Target Audience<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n
\n
Social Media Presence of McDowells No 1<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
McDowells No 1 Competitors<\/b><\/h2>\n
\n
Old Monk<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
Imperial Blue<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
Bacardi<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
About McDowells No 1
McDowells No 1 Marketing Mix
1. McDowells No 1 Product Strategy
2. McDowells No 1 Price Strategy
3. McDowells No 1 Place Strategy
4. McDowells No 1 Promotion Strategy
SWOT Analysis of McDowells No 1
1. Strengths of McDowellâs No 1
2. Weaknesses of McDowellâs No 1
3. Opportunities of McDowellâs No 1
4. Threats of McDowellâs No 1
Marketing Strategy of McDowells No 1
McDowells No 1 Marketing Campaigns
Brand Ambassadors of McDowells No 1
McDowells No 1 Target Audience
Social Media Presence of McDowells No 1
McDowells No 1 Competitors
Old Monk
Imperial Blue
Bacardi


Learn Digital Marketing for FREE
- 45 Mins Masterclass
- Watch Anytime, Anywhere
- 1,00,000+ Students Enrolled


Conclusion
McDowellâs No 1 brand has always attracted customers through its campaigns. We have also seen earlier that the brand is promoting friendship throughout its campaigns. They are always creating a brand image with their interactive campaigns which helps them to reach out to their target audience.
In our opinion, McDowellâs No 1 is a brand that has a good position in the market and they are maintaining this position by building trust, assuring the product quality, and executing multiple campaigns.
Thank you so much for giving time and reading this blog. If you wish to share your thoughts about what you read, please do so in the comments section below (your inputs are valuable). For more blogs, you can check IIDEâs website. If you wish to learn more about Digital Marketing, hereâs your chance to upskill yourself by attending free weekly Digital Marketing MasterClasses by IIDE.
Want to Know Why 2,50,000+ Students Trust Us?
Dive into the numbers that make us the #1 choice for career success

Courses Recommended for you
Author's Note:
My name is Aditya Shastri and I have written this case study with the help of my students from IIDE's online digital marketing courses in India.
Practical assignments, case studies & simulations helped the students from this course present this analysis.
Building on this practical approach, we are now introducing a new dimension for our online digital marketing course learners - the Campus Immersion Experience.
If you found this case study helpful, please feel free to leave a comment below.
Aditya Shastri leads the Business Development segment at IIDE and is a seasoned Content Marketing expert. With over a decade of experience, Aditya has trained more than 20,000 students and professionals in digital marketing, collaborating with prestigious institutions and corporations such as Jet Airways, Godrej Professionals, Pfizer, Mahindra Group, Publicis Worldwide, and many others. His ability to simplify complex marketing concepts, combined with his engaging teaching style, has earned him widespread admiration from students and professionals alike.